St James the Great Catholic Primary SchoolYear 6

Home Learning Grid Week beginning Monday 18th May

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

English The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van AllsburgLI To use onomatopoeia to create suspense.

This week you are going to be writing your mystery story to go with the image that you created last week.

I looked at the image below and thought of the following sentence to describe what I could see:

There was an almighty crack as the ship squeezed through the narrow streets.

The word “crack” in that sentence is an onomatopoeia, or a word which sounds like the noise it refers to.

Using onomatopoeia is one way of creating suspense in your writing because the reader wants

LI To begin writing our story.

Write the opening of your story. You will be writing over the next three days so look carefully at your plan and work out how to split it into three sections.

Your first section should introduce the characters and the setting and at least begin the build-up to the main action.

Think back to all the work that we have done over the last few weeks: how to create a mysterious story opening, describing atmosphere, the vocabulary you planned, techniques to create suspense including using onomatopoeia.

Remember that the work that we have done since the start of the

LI To write the middle of our story.

Write the middle of your story.

You should write until the main problem is resolved.

This section should include some dialogue to move the action along.

Remember to balance dialogue with description as we practised the week before last.

Think about how Edgar Allan Poe makes the part of his story where the action takes place the most exciting part.

How could you use similar techniques to make your story exciting?

If you really want to challenge

LI To finish our story.

Write to the end of the story.

Before you start, think carefully about how you want to finish your story.

Do you want to resolve every mystery or do you want to leave the reader with questions?

How do you want the reader to feel when they finish your story?

How will you make them feel that way?

What will happen to your narrator at the end of the story?

For a challenge try and include some elements of Edgar Allan Poe’s style in your story, eg protagonist addressing the reader directly,

LI To edit and redraft our story.

Read your whole story again and find and correct any spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes that you have made.

Then, look at the photo below of different techniques that you might use to open a story.

How would your opening be different if you used one of the other techniques in the photograph?

Rewrite your opening twice, choosing two different opening techniques to use.

Which of your three openings (the original one and the ones that you wrote today) do you prefer?

to read on to find out what has made the noise.

How many different sentences can you write to describe your image, using onomatopoeia?

Try to think of at least 5 sentences.

If you want a challenge, think back to the techniques that Edgar Allan Poe used in The Telltale Heart.

Which of these techniques could you add to your sentences to make them more suspenseful?

term is there to help you write your own mystery story.

For a challenge try and include some elements of Edgar Allan Poe’s style in your story, eg protagonist addressing the reader directly, repetition, describing events in minute detail to slow down the pace of the story, etc.

yourself, you could try and make your narrator someone who we cannot really trust, like the narrator in The Telltale Heart.

For a challenge try and include some elements of Edgar Allan Poe’s style in your story, eg protagonist addressing the reader directly, repetition, describing events in minute detail to slow down the pace of the story, etc.

repetition, describing events in minute detail to slow down the pace of the story, etc.

Why?

Reading The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan PoeLI To extract relevant information to answer questions about a challenging fiction passage.

Listen to the next part of the story, from 9 minutes and 56 seconds up to 12

LI To discuss our understanding of what we have read.

Read the passage again from “If you still think me mad…” to “the corpse of the victim”. You might want to

LI To practise discussing our understanding of what we have read.

Read the passage again from “If you still think me mad…” to “the corpse of the victim”. You might want to

LI To explain our understanding of what we have read.

Read from The officers were satisfied to the end of the story. You might want to listen along here from 12 minutes

LI To demonstrate and explain our understanding of what we have read by interpreting the story from the perspective of a different character.

Read over the

minutes and 10 seconds. As you are listening, you can read along here.

Then, find the relevant parts of the passage that will help you find the answers to the questions below.

When you have worked out the correct answer, write the relevant quotation next to it that helped you answer the question, just as I have in my example below.

listen along as you read.

At the beginning of the paragraph, the protagonist says

“If you still think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took...”

How would you explain in your own words what he means by this?

You are going to explore whether or not you agree with the statement that the protagonist makes.

I have given you some evidence from the text below that I would like you to sort according to whether you think it supports the protagonist’s statement or contradicts it.

Divide your page as I have below and then put the statements from the text in the appropriate column.

listen along as you read.

Look at the following statement:

The police do not suspect the protagonist of having done anything wrong.

Repeat the activity from yesterday, with the today’s statement at the top of the page (see below)

Today, you will have to find your own evidence in the text.

Challenge

Once you have written your own reasons, explain why they make you agree or disagree with the statement.

and 10 seconds.

This is a very dramatic part of the story, but it is all told from the perspective of the protagonist and can therefore be quite challenging to interpret.

What makes it particularly challenging is that the protagonist has more or less completely lost his grip on reality at this point.

Read the passage carefully and then identify the three main events in this paragraph (as the protagonist tells them).

Draw a storyboard of 6 boxes and in the top three boxes, find a way to represent the three events from the protagonist’s perspective. You don’t have to draw if you don’t want to, but if you do want to, you are very welcome to!

Then, in the three boxes along the bottom, represent the same three events from a more logical point of view.

whole story again. You may want to listen along as you read.

Then, write a diary entry in role as one of the police officers who goes to the house, describing the strange events of the night from their perspective.

Challenge

Once you have sorted the statements, explain why each one makes you agree or disagree with each statement.

What do you think actually happened at the end of the story?

Which events happened in the same way as the protagonist described them and which events happened differently?

Maths Area and PerimeterLI To find shapes with the same area but different perimeters

When we find the area of a shape, we are finding how much space there is within a 2D shape.

When we find the perimeter of a shape, we are finding the total length of all the sides of a 2D shape.

To find the area of a square or rectangle, we multiply its length by its width.

This rectangle

LI To investigate the relationship between area and perimeter.

How many squares and rectangles can you find whose perimeter and area is the same?

Today you are going to investigate this question.

You will need to work systematically.

You can draw the shapes in order to work this out but you need to record your results in a table similar to the ones we created yesterday.

If you want to

LI To investigate shapes with the same area and different perimeters and vice versa

Have a look at the image below.

How does the information in the image relate to area and perimeter?

The number of matchsticks that the girl uses to make her shape is the perimeter and the number of counters that she wins is the area.

How many counters would she win if she were to use 8 matchsticks?

How many

LI To reason about area and perimeter

A landscape gardener is designing a garden. Part of the garden has a fenced grass area. The area needs to be 20m² and have a perimeter of less than 20m. What could the dimensions of the fenced area be?

I have worked out the answer to this below, but I would like you to try and work it out for yourself first and then compare your method to my method.

Which method do you think is more reliable? Why?

Solve the problems below,

LI To solve a problem using our understanding of area.

Imagine a square swimming pool with 24 tiles around it. Two children stand on different tiles and hold a ribbon across the pool. Each child can hold one or two ribbons at a time.

Each ribbon runs from the middle of the tile that the child is standing on. The children are trying to make squares with their ribbons that they call

has a length of 4cm and a width of 3cm, so to calculate its area, we need to multiply 4 by 3.

4cm x 3cm = 12cm²

so the area of the rectangle is 12cm²

To find its perimeter, we need to add 2 lots of 4cm and 2 lots of 3cm

4+4+3+3 = 14cm

So the perimeter of the rectangle is 14cm.

How many different rectangles are there with areas of 12cm²?

What are their perimeters?

Look at my example and then complete the tables.

If you want to challenge yourself, work out the areas and perimeters without drawing

challenge yourself, you can work this out without drawing the shapes.

What do you notice about all of the shapes you found whose area and perimeter are equal?

different possible answers are there to that question?

In order to answer these questions, we need to make sure that we are being systematic.

Have a look at the table below for an example of how to work this out systematically.

Then, answer the questions.

Choose either practice or challenge.

showing your working out in a clear and methodical way.

Choose either one star, two star or three star.

“ribbon squares”.

Here is a ribbon square that they made. It has an area of 9 square tiles.

Investigate the following questions.

What are the areas of the largest and smallest ribbon squares the children could make?

How many different sized ribbon squares could they make?

If the swimming pool is surrounded by 20 tiles, what would the different areas of the ribbon squares be?

Make sure that your working out is clear, methodical and systematic.

the shapes. If you are finding this a bit tricky, drawing the shapes will help you visualise and calculate.

Key vocabulary

Area, perimeter, investigate, length, width, systematic.

RE HealingLI To explore the concept of healing

How does a priest heal people?

How does a doctor heal people?

Create a Venn diagram exploring similarities and differences between the healing that a priest does and the healing that a doctor does.

See below for some ideas. Where would they go on your Venn diagram? They are there to start you off - you can think of many more on your own!

If you want to challenge yourself, add in another circle to your Venn diagram exploring the similarities and differences between the healing that a priest does, the healing that a doctor does and the healing that Jesus did.

LI To explain the meaning and purpose of a complex scripture passage

Read Luke 18:35-43

What do you learn about Jesus from this story?

Complete this sentence starter in as many different ways as you can:

This story teaches me that Jesus...

Key vocabulary

Healing, priest, doctor, faith, sickness, care, compassion, Sacrament, anointing

Key vocabulary

Care, compassion, heal, miracle

Science The effects of diet, drugs and alcohol on the bodyLI To understand and explain the effect that illegal substances can have on the body.

Look at the information below about the different effects that each drug can have on the body.

Imagine that someone you know has told you that they are interested in trying one drug in

LI To use our scientific understanding to be able to distinguish between myths and facts about how to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Look at the statements below.

For each one, identify whether it is a myth or a fact and explain how you used what you have learned over the past few weeks to decide

particular. Write them a letter telling them why you think they should not try that drug and what some of the effects of that drug could have if they take it.

whether or not the statement is true.

Look at my example to see how to use evidence to support your judgment.

Key vocabularyCocaine, cannabis, ecstasy, heroin, effects, danger, damage.

Key vocabulary

Myth, fact, effect, danger, risk, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes.

History The MayaLI To describe the arrival of the Spanish from two different perspectives.

Use the work from last week’s lesson, and from all of the previous weeks, to write two different first-person accounts of the arrival of the Spanish: one written from the perspective of a Spanish conquistador and one written from the perspective of a Maya citizen.

What would they have seen happening?

What would they have found interesting?

What would they have thought of what was happening?

Remember to use both facts that you have learned and opinions that both characters may have had.

Key vocabulary

Conquest, destruction, temple, plaza, jungle, invasion, discovery.

PSHE Rights and responsibilitiesLI To identify how and why ideas about human rights have changed throughout history.

Look at the fact cards below.

Sequence them in chronological order and then use the information to create a timeline poster showing how human rights have changed over time. Find a way to show for each fact card whether the information represents an improvement or setback in the history of human rights.

Key vocabulary

Human rights, change, improvement, setback.

ART Van Gogh Line DrawingsLI To represent the setting of a book in the style of Van Gogh

Read the passage below, the Prologue from a book called The House with Chicken Legs.

Look particularly at this passage:

At this moment it’s perched on a rocky ledge high in some barren mountains. We’ve been here two weeks and I still haven’t seen anyone living. Dead people, I’ve seen plenty of those of course. They come to visit Baba and she guides them through The Gate. But the real, live, living people, they all stay in the town and village far below us.

Use this passage to draw a picture of the setting of this book. Make sure that you include the

elements that I have highlighted.

Then, redraw your picture in the style of the Van Gogh drawing that we were looking at last week, using some of the techniques to create texture and movement that we have been looking at.

Key vocabulary

Line, movement, direction, texture, shading, technique

Computing

E-SafetyLI To understand potential consequences of cyber-bullying and understand how to deal with it in a responsible way.

Read the following scenario:

A child in the class has filmed (on a mobile phone) another member of the class eating sweets and ice creams. S/he is sending the film round to others with rude comments about the person’s greed and size. You all feel this should be stopped.

How will you deal with the situation?

Write a story exploring this scenario and how you would respond to it.

Plan your story in the following format:

Beginning: The video is sent round and with unkind comments

Middle: How the child in the video feels and reacts.

End: How you deal with it in a responsible and appropriate way.

Key vocabulary

Cyber-bullying, report, sharing.

PE Use the Joe Wicks PE videos on Youtube. He uploads a new video each day. Remember that it is really important to stay active, even if you can’t go out that much.

LI To practise and refine different types of jump.

See below for different challenges that will help you refine your jumping and leaping technique.

LI To perform a range of jumps and leaps.

Have a look below at the slide which will explain how to develop more control over your take-off and landing when you jump.

Practise the new jumps and see if you can do them as accurately as possible.

Then, challenge yourself:

How many different jumps and leaps can you perform in 60 seconds?

Have a go, rest for a minute or two and then try again.

Did you manage to do better on your second go?

Key vocabulary

Take-off, land, control, height, flexibility

Key vocabulary

Take-off, land, control, height, flexibility, straight jump full turn, cat leap half turn.

Just for fun!

Yoga

This video has been designed especially for children.

PE Challenges

If you want something a bit more intense, you will find lots of challenges here. Watch any of the videos with “Virtual Challenge” in the title. If you complete any of the challenges, you can email me (year6@stjamesthegreat.southwark.sch.uk) with your results.

Baking

If you tried shaping dough last week and want more of a challenge, this is a recipe for a delicious type of bread called Challah. It is a traditional Jewish bread which is plaited in quite a complicated way! I had a go and it was delicious, but I think I’d like to try again to get the plait a bit neater. Send me photos if you decide to try it!

English

Monday

Friday

Reading

Monday

1) The protagonist claims that he cannot be mad because...a) he has not done anything wrongb) he had a good reason to kill the old manc) he hid the old man’s body so carefullyd) he ran away straight after the murder.

Answer: c - The wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body.

2) The protagonist hid the body…

a) in a dark forestb) under the floorboardsc) in a cupboardd) behind a door

3) When the protagonist finished cleaning up, it was…

a) four in the morningb) four in the afternoonc) midnightd) midday

4) When the protagonist answered the door, he felt…

a) nervousb) relaxedc) suspiciousd) delighted

5) The police had been called because...

a) someone had witnessed the murderb) the old man had called the police before he was killedc) someone had found the man’s bodyd) someone nearby had heard a scream

6) The protagonist...

a) let the men into the house happilyb) refused to let the men into the housec) asked the men for identificationd) tried to run away

7) The protagonist tells the police that…

a) the old man has gone away from the city b) the old man has disappeared but he does not know where he isc) the old man has moved to a different housed) the old man is asleep in the bedroom

8) The protagonist…

a) tries to get the police out of the house as quickly as possibleb) is nervous while the police are searchingc) lets the police search the house as much as they want tod) tries to stop the police from going into the old man’s bedroom

Tuesday

If you still think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took…

Agree Disagree

I worked hastily, but in silence.

I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly, that no human eye - not even his - could have detected anything wrong.

A tub had caught all - ha ha!

I went down to open it with a light heart, - for what had I now to fear?

The shriek, I said, was my own in a dream. The old man, I mentioned, was absent in the country.

I took my visitors all over the house.

I bade them search - search well.

I led them, at length, to his chamber.

In the enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs into the room, and desired them here to rest on their fatigues.

I myself, in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the victim.

Wednesday

The police do not suspect the protagonist of having done anything wrong

Agree Disagree

Maths

Monday

Squares and rectangles with an area of 12cm²

Side 1 Side 2 Perimeter

1cm 12cm 26cm

2cm 6cm 16cm

3cm 4cm 14cm

I know that I have found all possible dimensions because I have been systematic.

Squares and rectangles with an area of 20cm²

Side 1 Side 2 Perimeter

Squares and rectangles with an area of 32cm²

Side 1 Side 2 Perimeter

Squares and rectangles with an area of 28mm²

Side 1 Side 2 Perimeter

Squares and rectangles with an area of 44mm²

Side 1 Side 2 Perimeter

Wednesday

Matchsticks on side 1 Matchsticks on side 2 Total number of matchsticks used (Perimeter of rectangle)

Number of coins won(Area of rectangle)

1 3 8 3

2 2 8 4

3 1 8 3

Practice

1) How could you rearrange the 10 matchsticks to make a rectangle that will win more than 4 coins?

2) How many rectangles can you make around the coins using 12 matchsticks? What are the areas that you make? Which will give you the most coins?

3) How many ways can you make rectangles to win 12 coins? Write down the perimeter for each using the number of matchsticks?

4) What numbers of coins can you collect by making rectangles with 24 matchsticks? Explain how you know.

5) How many matchsticks will you need to make a rectangle to collect all the coins? Explain how you know.

6) Sophie collects 32 coins. How many matchsticks did she use?

Challenge

1) What numbers of coins can you collect by making rectangles with 24 matchsticks? Explain how you know.

2) How many matchsticks will you need to make a rectangle to collect all the coins? Explain how you know.

3) Sophie collects 32 coins. How many matchsticks did she use?

4) Is it possible to make a rectangle which collects more coins than the number of matchsticks used?

5) Is it possible to make a rectangle which collects the same number of coins as the matchsticks used? Explain how you know.

6) Do you agree with this statement:

When the area increases, the perimeter always increases; when the area decreases, the perimeter always decreases.

Explain why/why not.

Thursday

A landscape gardener is designing a garden. Part of the garden has a fenced grass area. The area needs to be 20m² and have a perimeter of less than 20m.

What could the dimensions of the fenced area be?

Length of fenced area Width of fenced area Area Perimeter

1m 20m 20m² 42m

2m 10m 20m² 24m

4m 5m 20m² 18m

The rectangle that I have highlighted is the only one that will work because it is the only one with an area of 20m² and a perimeter of less than 20m.

One Star1) A landscape gardener is designing a garden. Part of the garden has a fenced

grassed area. The area needs to be at least 30m² and have a perimeter of less than 25m. The gardener thinks that the grassed area could be 8m x 5m. Is he right? Explain how you know.

2) A shape has an area of 12cm². The shape has been divided into two identical rectangles. What could the perimeters of the two rectangles be?

3) Here are some clues about an unknown rectangle: Its area is 36cm² Its perimeter is less than 36cm The difference between the area and the perimeter is 6 Both sides are a whole number of centimetres in length.

What is the length and width of the rectangle?

Two Star1) A landscape gardener is designing a garden. Part of the garden has a fenced

grassed area. The area needs to be 24m² and have a perimeter of more than 25m. Find a possible rectangular shape that would fit these clues.

2) A shape has an area of 30cm². The shape has been divided into two identical rectangles. What could the perimeters of the two rectangles be?

3) Here are some clues about an unknown rectangle: Its area is less than 30cm² but more than 25cm² Its perimeter is more than 20cm but less than 25cm The difference between the area and the perimeter is 6 The difference between the length and width is 3cm

What are the dimensions of the rectangle?

Three Star

1) A landscape gardener is designing a garden. Part of the garden has a fenced grassed area. The area needs to be 30m² and have a perimeter of more than 30m. Find all possible rectangular shapes that would fit these clues.

2) A shape has an area of 48cm². The shape has been divided into two identical rectangles. What could the perimeters of the two rectangles be?

3) Here are some clues to an unknown rectangle (not a square) Its area is less than 42cm² but more than 35cm² Its perimeter is more than 25cm but less than 32cm The difference between the area and the perimeter is 12 The difference between the length and the width is 6cm

What are the dimensions of the rectangle?

RE

Lesson 1 - Some ideas to add to your Venn diagram

Anoints the sick

Uses science to heal the sick

Provides comfort to the sick

Provides comfort and reassurance to the family of the sick person

Science

Lesson 1

Drug EffectCocaine Reaches the brain quickly which makes it highly

addictiveCocaine Can make you feel very confident, alert and

awakeCocaine Can also make you over-confident, arrogant,

aggressive and cause you to take careless risksCocaine When effects wear off it leads to comedown

where the person feels depressed. This can last for days.

Cocaine It can lead to anxiety, paranoia and panic attacksCocaine Increases the heart rate which can lead to a heart

attack or heart failureCocaine Reduces your appetiteCocaine Snorting cocaine damages the cartilage which

separates the nostrils. Heavy users have been known to lose this altogether, ending up with one big nostril

Cocaine Smoking cocaine can cause breathing problems

Drug EffectCannabis Can make you feel happy and relaxedCannabis Can also make you hallucinate (meaning that

you see, hear or feel things differently to normal and which aren’t real)

Cannabis Can make your memory worseCannabis Can make it difficult to concentrate. In young

people it affects their ability to learn.Cannabis Can make you very anxious and paranoidCannabis Can lead to serious, long term mental health

problems, including paranoia, panic attacks and anxiety

Cannabis Existing mental health problems like

schizophrenia are made worse as a result of useCannabis Affects blood pressure – can make it too low of

too high.Cannabis Can make you feel sick

Drug EffectEcstasy Can make you feel more alertEcstasy Heightens senses, such as sounds and coloursEcstasy Can make you develop feelings of love and

affection for friends and strangersEcstasy Can cause depression, anxiety, panic attacks,

paranoia or psychosisEcstasy Can produce brain lesions – a form of brain

damageEcstasy Body temperature rises which can lead to severe

dehydrationEcstasy Low blood pressureEcstasy Muscles tightenEcstasy Heart rate increasesEcstasy Can lead to liver failure (where the liver stops

working because it is so damaged)Ecstasy Can cause acute respiratory distress syndrome,

where the lungs become inflamed as the alveoli are damaged, so gas exchange between oxygen and carbon dioxide decreases.

Drug EffectHeroin Gives users feeling of warmth and well-beingHeroin Bigger doses can make use feel sleepy or

relaxedHeroin Overdoses can lead to a coma as a result of

damage to the brainHeroin Highly addictive so users become dependent

very quicklyHeroin Can cause respiratory failure (inability to

breathe)Heroin Sharing needles can risk spreading virusesHeroin Can lead to gangrene (death of body tissue)

Lesson 2

Statements

1) If you have a good job and family life, you can’t be a drug or alcohol addict2) Drug addiction is a choice3) You just need to stop taking drugs or stop drinking and you will be fine4) Legal drugs (cigarettes, alcohol, etc) are not harmful5) There are alcohol limits when driving, but you can take drugs and drive6) Just trying a drug once won’t make me an addict or do me any harm.

Example

Statement 1 - Myth

Anyone can become addicted to drugs or alcohol. Addiction is an effect of drugs and alcohol on the body - it has nothing to do with whether or not you have a job or whether or not you have a supportive family.

PHSE

Event 1: At least 12 million Africans were taken to the Americas as slaves between 1532 and 1832

Event 2: In Britain, during the 19th century, working-class children were often employed in factories and on farms. For many families, it was more important for a child to bring home a wage than to get an education.

Event 3: Women could vote from 1945 but only if they could read or write.

Event 4: In America, in the 1950s, black people were required by law to sit at the back of the bus and give up their seats for white people.

Event 5: In South Africa, from 1948 to early 1990, the government treated white people as more important than other ethnic groups. White people were treated well and other ethnic groups were treated horribly.

Event 6: In Britain, during the Industrial Revolution (1760-1840), children as young as five were needed to work in the coal mines for very little money.

Event 7: In Britain, during the Middle Ages, peasants had a poor quality of life. They lacked healthcare, clean water and decent housing. They struggled to provide food for themselves and for wealthy landowners.

Event 8: In Europe, between 1941 and 1945, around six million people were killed and tortured because they were Jewish.

Art

Prologue of The House with Chicken Legs , by Sophie Anderson

My house has chicken legs. Two or three times a year, without warning, it stands up in the middle of the night and walks away from where we’ve been living. It might walk a hundred miles or it might walk a thousand, but where it lands is always the same. A lonely bleak place at the edge of civilisation. It nestles in dark forbidden woods, rattles on windswept icy tundra, and hides in crumbling ruins at the far edge of cities. At this moment it’s perched on a rocky ledge high in some barren mountains. We’ve been here two weeks and I still haven’t seen anyone living. Dead people, I’ve seen plenty of those of course. They come to visit Baba and she guides them through The Gate. But the real, live, living people, they all stay in the town and villages far below us.

Maybe if it was summer a few of them would wander up here, to picnic and look at the view. They might smile and say hello. Someone my own age might visit – maybe a whole group of children. They might stop near the stream and splash in the water to cool off. Perhaps they would invite me to join them.

“How’s the fence coming?” Baba calls through the open window, pulling me from my daydream.

“Nearly done,” I wedge another thigh bone into the low stone wall. Usually I sink the bones straight into the earth , but up here the ground is too rocky, so I built a knee-high stone wall all the way around the house, pushed the bones into it and balanced the skulls on top. But it keeps collapsing in the night. I don’t know if it’s the wind, or wild animals, or clumsy dead people, but every day we’ve been here I’ve had to rebuild a part of the fence.

Baba says the fence is important to keep out the living and guide in the dead, but that’s not why I fix it. I like to work with the bones because my parents would have touched them one, long ago, when they built fences and guided the dead. Sometimes I think I feel the warmth of their hands lingering on the cold bones, and I imagine what it might have been like to hold my parents for real. This makes my heart lift and ache all at the same time.

The house creaks loudly and leans over until the front window is right above me. Baba pokes her head out and smiles. “Lunch is ready. I’ve made a feast of shchi and black bagels. Enough for Jack too.”

My stomach rumbles as the smell of cabbage soup and freshly baked bread hits my nose. “Just the gate hinge, then I’m done.” I life up a foot bone, wire it back into place, and look around for Jack.

He’s picking at a weathered piece of rock underneath a dried-up heather bush, probably hoping to find a woodlouse or a beetle. “Jack!” I call and he tilts his head up. One of his silver eyes flashes as it catches the light. He bounds towards me in an ungainly cross between flying and jumping, lands on my shoulder, and tries to push something into my ear.

“Get off!” My hand darts up to cover my ear. Jack’s always stashing food to save for later. I don’t know why he thinks my ears are a good hiding place. He forces the thing into my fingers instead; something small, dry and crispy. I pull my hand down to look. It’s a crumpled, broken spider. “Thanks Jack.” I drop the carcass into my pocket. I know he means well, sharing his food, but I’ve had enough of dead things. “Come on.” I shake my head and sigh. “Baba’s made a feast. For two people and a jackdaw.”

I turn and look at the town far below us. All those houses, snuggled close together, keeping each other company in this cold and lonely place. I wish my house was a normal house, down there, with the living. I wish my family was a normal family, too. But my house has chicken legs, and my grandmother is a Yaga and a Guardian of The Gate between this world and the next. So my wishes are as hollow as the skulls of the fence.

PE

Lesson 1

PE

Lesson 1

Reminders of different jumping techniques

Take off with two feet Make a wide-starred shape with your arms and legs in the air Extend and stretch through to your fingers and toes Land on two feet with your arms forward for balance

Challenges

Lesson 2

New Jumps